CHAPTER THIRTEEN 



TIGER BEETLES. IIOnGOBLINS' DEXS AND A REAL MAGIC 

 TRICK. CATERPILLAR HUNTERS. BLIND HARPALUS 

 BEETLES AND OTHER BLIND INSECTS IN MOTHER NA- 

 TLHE'S CAVE FOR THE BLIND. CARRION BEETLES. 

 UNDERTAKER AND GRAVE-DIGGER BEETLES. AMUSING 

 FACTS ABOUT CARRION BEETLES. FLIES AND ROVE 

 BEETLES. 



TIGER BEETLES 



Beetle, in old English, means a biter, and you 

 will notice that most of the beetles can bite your 

 linger severely enough to make you wish you had 

 not put it against their biting apparatus. But you 

 need not experiment with your lingers on their 

 jaws; try beetles' "teeth" with the end of a match 

 or broomstraw. 



Among the best biters are Tiger beetles ( Figs. 

 189-192). Every boy knows the Tiger beetle 

 by sight, if he does not by name. Everyone has 

 seen the lively insects running along in front of 

 them on the sandy shore of the lake or ocean or 

 on the dusty country road. They only run a short 

 distance, however, then take to their wings and 

 fly, but even then they do not go far before they 

 alight in the road or on the beach, always facing 



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